Casey Schmitt
@csschmitt.bsky.social
Historian @ Cornell. Author of THE PREDATORY SEA: HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND CAPTIVITY IN THE 17TH-C CARIBBEAN (Penn Press, 2025) https://www.pennpress.org/9781512828146/the-predatory-sea/
Pinned
Casey Schmitt
@csschmitt.bsky.social
· Jul 15
The Predatory Sea – Penn Press
A new interpretation of captivity, human trafficking, and colonization in the seventeenth-century CaribbeanA century before the height of the Atlantic slave ...
www.pennpress.org
There's a discount code for pre-orders!
If you've always wanted to read about sixteenth- and seventeenth-century smuggling, piracy, and human trafficking in the Caribbean AND you love a good deal, use:
PENN-CSCHMITT30 for 30% off. 🗃️
www.pennpress.org/978151282814...
If you've always wanted to read about sixteenth- and seventeenth-century smuggling, piracy, and human trafficking in the Caribbean AND you love a good deal, use:
PENN-CSCHMITT30 for 30% off. 🗃️
www.pennpress.org/978151282814...
So far, my process for starting the second book project has just involved requesting hundreds of books from ILL and ignoring the increasingly aggressive emails about those books being overdue.
That's normal, right? 🗃️
That's normal, right? 🗃️
February 13, 2026 at 3:37 PM
So far, my process for starting the second book project has just involved requesting hundreds of books from ILL and ignoring the increasingly aggressive emails about those books being overdue.
That's normal, right? 🗃️
That's normal, right? 🗃️
Reposted by Casey Schmitt
I’m currently funded by Mellon. Every night my backers leave a little liberalization pill on my pillow, I take it, and then arise each morning to further chill the humanities discourse.
So glad someone finally uncovered this abuse of power.
So glad someone finally uncovered this abuse of power.
February 13, 2026 at 1:45 PM
I’m currently funded by Mellon. Every night my backers leave a little liberalization pill on my pillow, I take it, and then arise each morning to further chill the humanities discourse.
So glad someone finally uncovered this abuse of power.
So glad someone finally uncovered this abuse of power.
Reposted by Casey Schmitt
if someone says their business relies on catapults being built on the moon i dont think we should have to take them seriously or subsidize their business with government contracts anymore
February 11, 2026 at 2:02 PM
if someone says their business relies on catapults being built on the moon i dont think we should have to take them seriously or subsidize their business with government contracts anymore
Opinion Poll:
Should historians organize their own book launches? If so, how? It feels like icky self-promotion in a time when the world is burning, but is it important? 🗃️
Should historians organize their own book launches? If so, how? It feels like icky self-promotion in a time when the world is burning, but is it important? 🗃️
February 11, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Opinion Poll:
Should historians organize their own book launches? If so, how? It feels like icky self-promotion in a time when the world is burning, but is it important? 🗃️
Should historians organize their own book launches? If so, how? It feels like icky self-promotion in a time when the world is burning, but is it important? 🗃️
Reposted by Casey Schmitt
The program for the April 2026 conference of the Forum on Early-modern Empires and Global Interactions (FEEGI) is live. This year is extra special because we've teamed up with the Program in Early American Economy & Society. Join us! #earlymodern #globalhistory #earlyamerican @csschmitt.bsky.social
Conferences
View the 2026 Conference Program here . Register for the 2026 conference here .
feegi.org
February 9, 2026 at 2:35 PM
The program for the April 2026 conference of the Forum on Early-modern Empires and Global Interactions (FEEGI) is live. This year is extra special because we've teamed up with the Program in Early American Economy & Society. Join us! #earlymodern #globalhistory #earlyamerican @csschmitt.bsky.social
Learned about the depressing trend of describing books as TL;DR (Too Long, Didn't Read) at a conference last weekend.
Instead, I propose LR;WI (Long Read and Worth It). What are some long books that you read recently and enjoyed? I'll start: 🗃️
www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...
Instead, I propose LR;WI (Long Read and Worth It). What are some long books that you read recently and enjoyed? I'll start: 🗃️
www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...
The Tame and the Wild — Harvard University Press
A dramatic new interpretation of the encounter between Europe and the Americas that reveals the crucial role of animals in the shaping of the modern world.When the men and women of the island of Guana...
www.hup.harvard.edu
February 6, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Learned about the depressing trend of describing books as TL;DR (Too Long, Didn't Read) at a conference last weekend.
Instead, I propose LR;WI (Long Read and Worth It). What are some long books that you read recently and enjoyed? I'll start: 🗃️
www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...
Instead, I propose LR;WI (Long Read and Worth It). What are some long books that you read recently and enjoyed? I'll start: 🗃️
www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...
Reposted by Casey Schmitt
The image of Toussaint Louverture had to be removed because the Olympic committee considered it a "political statement"??
www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
‘Symbol of the Haitian spirit’: Haiti’s Winter Olympic uniform inspired by history
Haiti’s Winter Olympic uniform is a statement of history and perseverance.
www.miamiherald.com
February 6, 2026 at 11:43 AM
The image of Toussaint Louverture had to be removed because the Olympic committee considered it a "political statement"??
www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
Yes! And the ties between Puerto Rico and North America are deeper than most people realize. I wrote a lot about how Puerto Rico played an essential role in English colonization of North America.
www.pennpress.org/978151282814...
www.pennpress.org/978151282814...
February 4, 2026 at 1:53 PM
Yes! And the ties between Puerto Rico and North America are deeper than most people realize. I wrote a lot about how Puerto Rico played an essential role in English colonization of North America.
www.pennpress.org/978151282814...
www.pennpress.org/978151282814...
Reposted by Casey Schmitt
🚨History Job: Assistant Professor in Early Modern British History (Permanent) 🗃️
Come work with us at Warwick! You will join a group of excellent early-modernists and one of the nicest bunches of historians around!
👇👇👇
@uni-of-warwick.bsky.social
warwick-careers.tal.net/vx/lang-en-G...
Come work with us at Warwick! You will join a group of excellent early-modernists and one of the nicest bunches of historians around!
👇👇👇
@uni-of-warwick.bsky.social
warwick-careers.tal.net/vx/lang-en-G...
Assistant Professor in Early Modern British History (111286-0126) - University of Warwick
Title: Assistant Professor in Early Modern British History (111286-0126). Application Deadline: . Position Type: Permanent
warwick-careers.tal.net
February 4, 2026 at 11:13 AM
🚨History Job: Assistant Professor in Early Modern British History (Permanent) 🗃️
Come work with us at Warwick! You will join a group of excellent early-modernists and one of the nicest bunches of historians around!
👇👇👇
@uni-of-warwick.bsky.social
warwick-careers.tal.net/vx/lang-en-G...
Come work with us at Warwick! You will join a group of excellent early-modernists and one of the nicest bunches of historians around!
👇👇👇
@uni-of-warwick.bsky.social
warwick-careers.tal.net/vx/lang-en-G...
Reposted by Casey Schmitt
The Utah Historical Society just produced a new, excellent map of "The Peoples of North America in 1776." Great resource for anyone teaching, writing, presenting about Native peoples as part of their 250th work. america250.utah.gov/power-of-pla...
February 3, 2026 at 1:49 PM
The Utah Historical Society just produced a new, excellent map of "The Peoples of North America in 1776." Great resource for anyone teaching, writing, presenting about Native peoples as part of their 250th work. america250.utah.gov/power-of-pla...
Congratulations to @randybrowne.bsky.social!!!
Congratulations to author @randybrowne.bsky.social, whose book THE DRIVER'S STORY has been named a finalist for the Sterling Stuckey Book Prize, granted by The Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora (ASWAD)! bit.ly/3Qs4ZJs
The Driver’s Story – Penn Press
The story of the driver is the story of Atlantic slavery. Starting in the seventeenth-century Caribbean, enslavers developed the driving system to solve thei...
bit.ly
January 22, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Congratulations to @randybrowne.bsky.social!!!
CEO of unpopular product that has failed to live up to hype begs global community to adopt it anyway or they will go out of business...
AI boom could falter without wider adoption, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella warns
AI boom could falter without wider adoption, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella warns
Big tech boss tells delegates at Davos that broader global use is essential if technology is to deliver lasting growth
www.irishtimes.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:35 PM
CEO of unpopular product that has failed to live up to hype begs global community to adopt it anyway or they will go out of business...
Reposted by Casey Schmitt
Applications are now invited for a new RHS programme for 2026, co-hosted with @ihr.bsky.social and @chalkefestival.bsky.social
'Pitch my Project' is for early career historians to present their research at the Chalke History Festival in June bit.ly/44kfUMM. Closing date: 6 February. #Skystorians
'Pitch my Project' is for early career historians to present their research at the Chalke History Festival in June bit.ly/44kfUMM. Closing date: 6 February. #Skystorians
Pitch my Project: an opportunity for early career historians to present their work at the Chalke History Festival 2026 - RHS
Have you ever wanted to share your research with a wide audience? Would you like to gain experience in public speaking, and be supported to develop imaginative ways to communicate your research to the...
bit.ly
January 16, 2026 at 3:05 PM
Applications are now invited for a new RHS programme for 2026, co-hosted with @ihr.bsky.social and @chalkefestival.bsky.social
'Pitch my Project' is for early career historians to present their research at the Chalke History Festival in June bit.ly/44kfUMM. Closing date: 6 February. #Skystorians
'Pitch my Project' is for early career historians to present their research at the Chalke History Festival in June bit.ly/44kfUMM. Closing date: 6 February. #Skystorians
Reposted by Casey Schmitt
What a fantastic special edition, with some top-tier scholars of monetary history! It's always worth reading @thetimeisnye.bsky.social on Ottoman Empire and Shweta Banerjee on the East India Company.
January 19, 2026 at 2:19 PM
What a fantastic special edition, with some top-tier scholars of monetary history! It's always worth reading @thetimeisnye.bsky.social on Ottoman Empire and Shweta Banerjee on the East India Company.
New year and a new project... 🫣
January 13, 2026 at 1:23 PM
New year and a new project... 🫣
Reposted by Casey Schmitt
Friends, I hope you’ll share this widely. The @jcblibrary.bsky.social is hiring 2 3-yr research associates for collaborative work on religions and freedoms in the early Americas. Info is here and I’m happy to take questions offline: brown.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/staff-...
January 7, 2026 at 2:50 PM
Friends, I hope you’ll share this widely. The @jcblibrary.bsky.social is hiring 2 3-yr research associates for collaborative work on religions and freedoms in the early Americas. Info is here and I’m happy to take questions offline: brown.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/staff-...
It's here! The most wonderful time of year!
"I am learning so much from this year’s catalog about how to overthink coffee. My coffeepot doesn’t have a gooseneck-style spout. My coffeemaker certainly doesn’t include a stopwatch for bloom times..."
defector.com/the-2025-hat...
"I am learning so much from this year’s catalog about how to overthink coffee. My coffeepot doesn’t have a gooseneck-style spout. My coffeemaker certainly doesn’t include a stopwatch for bloom times..."
defector.com/the-2025-hat...
The 2025 Hater’s Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog | Defector
[Opens front door while holding a toy corgi in one arm] Merry Christmas! Oh my God, you made it! I thought you might be stuck at the airport for weeks! Well, because it’s such madness out there. Piper...
defector.com
December 17, 2025 at 3:05 PM
It's here! The most wonderful time of year!
"I am learning so much from this year’s catalog about how to overthink coffee. My coffeepot doesn’t have a gooseneck-style spout. My coffeemaker certainly doesn’t include a stopwatch for bloom times..."
defector.com/the-2025-hat...
"I am learning so much from this year’s catalog about how to overthink coffee. My coffeepot doesn’t have a gooseneck-style spout. My coffeemaker certainly doesn’t include a stopwatch for bloom times..."
defector.com/the-2025-hat...
Reposted by Casey Schmitt
Attention scholars: to mark the 20th anniversary of Patrick Wolfe's "Settler Colonialism and the Elimination of the
Native," SETTLER COLONIAL STUDIES is soliciting reflections/ critiques for a special issue on Wolfe and his influence.
Details below. Please circulate widely!
Native," SETTLER COLONIAL STUDIES is soliciting reflections/ critiques for a special issue on Wolfe and his influence.
Details below. Please circulate widely!
December 10, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Attention scholars: to mark the 20th anniversary of Patrick Wolfe's "Settler Colonialism and the Elimination of the
Native," SETTLER COLONIAL STUDIES is soliciting reflections/ critiques for a special issue on Wolfe and his influence.
Details below. Please circulate widely!
Native," SETTLER COLONIAL STUDIES is soliciting reflections/ critiques for a special issue on Wolfe and his influence.
Details below. Please circulate widely!
Such a joy to talk about The Predatory Sea with Karin Wulf as part of the JCB Reads series! 🗃️
youtu.be/Z6VZAD6BBuU?...
youtu.be/Z6VZAD6BBuU?...
JCB Reads 2025 with Casey Schmitt
YouTube video by The John Carter Brown Library
youtu.be
December 10, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Such a joy to talk about The Predatory Sea with Karin Wulf as part of the JCB Reads series! 🗃️
youtu.be/Z6VZAD6BBuU?...
youtu.be/Z6VZAD6BBuU?...
Reposted by Casey Schmitt
Do you do archival research? Do you know anyone who does? Our travel grant is a very easy application and we give $1,500 to come do research onsite in Storrs, CT. Apply! Repost! library.uconn.edu/location/asc...
December 9, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Do you do archival research? Do you know anyone who does? Our travel grant is a very easy application and we give $1,500 to come do research onsite in Storrs, CT. Apply! Repost! library.uconn.edu/location/asc...
Hey historians! How many of you have published something with the help of a literary agent? If you have, what did you think of the process? 🗃️
December 8, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Hey historians! How many of you have published something with the help of a literary agent? If you have, what did you think of the process? 🗃️
Reposted by Casey Schmitt
Job - please share widely!
Canada Excellence Research Chair in Comparative Democratic Resilience in the Global South.
Research focus - grassroots movements, Indigenous sovereignties, and racial justice campaigns contesting and transforming public institutions
www.mun.ca/vpacademic/m...
Canada Excellence Research Chair in Comparative Democratic Resilience in the Global South.
Research focus - grassroots movements, Indigenous sovereignties, and racial justice campaigns contesting and transforming public institutions
www.mun.ca/vpacademic/m...
November 17, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Job - please share widely!
Canada Excellence Research Chair in Comparative Democratic Resilience in the Global South.
Research focus - grassroots movements, Indigenous sovereignties, and racial justice campaigns contesting and transforming public institutions
www.mun.ca/vpacademic/m...
Canada Excellence Research Chair in Comparative Democratic Resilience in the Global South.
Research focus - grassroots movements, Indigenous sovereignties, and racial justice campaigns contesting and transforming public institutions
www.mun.ca/vpacademic/m...
Reposted by Casey Schmitt
Join us TODAY at 12 p.m. for a virtual discussion of Casey Schmitt's The Predatory Sea, part of JCB Reads.
Details at jcblibrary.org/events/jcb-r...
Details at jcblibrary.org/events/jcb-r...
December 1, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Join us TODAY at 12 p.m. for a virtual discussion of Casey Schmitt's The Predatory Sea, part of JCB Reads.
Details at jcblibrary.org/events/jcb-r...
Details at jcblibrary.org/events/jcb-r...
Hey historians! If you need something to help you recover from all of the holiday gluttony tomorrow, I will be chatting about my new book with the incomparable Karin Wulf on Monday 12/1 at noon! 🗃️
jcblibrary.org/events/jcb-r...
jcblibrary.org/events/jcb-r...
JCB Reads: Casey Schmitt's The Predatory Sea. Human Trafficking and Captivity in the Seventeenth-Century Caribbean | John Carter Brown Library
jcblibrary.org
November 26, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Hey historians! If you need something to help you recover from all of the holiday gluttony tomorrow, I will be chatting about my new book with the incomparable Karin Wulf on Monday 12/1 at noon! 🗃️
jcblibrary.org/events/jcb-r...
jcblibrary.org/events/jcb-r...
Reposted by Casey Schmitt
Happy 10th birthday to @ageofrevolutions.bsky.social. Kudos to everyone who has worked on it and here's to the next decade!
We published our first essay 10 years ago today on @ageofrevolutions.bsky.social. It was based on a side idea I had for my dissertation that would explore news of Franklin’s death around the revolutionary Atlantic. ageofrevolutions.com/2015/11/21/f...
“Franklin is Dead”: Celebrity, Genius, and Religion in the Age of Revolutions
By Bryan A. Banks On June 11, 1790, an emotionally wrought Mirabeau took to the rostrum of the National Constituent Assembly after numerous days away suffering from ophthalmia to announce Benjamin …
ageofrevolutions.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Happy 10th birthday to @ageofrevolutions.bsky.social. Kudos to everyone who has worked on it and here's to the next decade!